Kyna Posted November 1, 2008 Report Share Posted November 1, 2008 This may be a silly question but can the way a dog eats affect his digestion? Rock gulps down his food and doesn't tend to chew, and as described in the thread that I started requesting food advice, he is prone to getting diarhea. He finishes his cup of food in seconds compared with Isla. However, the diarrhea is accompanied by new foods, chewies or treats. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted November 1, 2008 Report Share Posted November 1, 2008 I'm pretty sure there's not a connection between fast eating and diarhea but if you're concerned about his eating so fast, you can buy a plastic food bowl with speed bumps to slow him down. Barb S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetlander Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 I'm pretty sure there's not a connection between fast eating and diarhea but if you're concerned about his eating so fast, you can buy a plastic food bowl with speed bumps to slow him down. I've never heard of a connection either and many dogs will wolf their food down. My dogs all treat eating like a competitive sport. I've also heard that putting a large rock (too big for the dog to swallow of course) in the middle of a bowl, the food is harder for them to get at and that slows them down. What I found by accident after my Sheltie had a cracked molar removed this Spring was wetting her kibble to soften it, made her eat much slower. I've continued putting in a bit of water with each meal to slow her down. I didn't have any trouble with diarrhea but she is always so hungry that I thought it would maybe help her feel a bit more full if she didn't inhale her food. Probably not but thought I'd try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chesney's Girl Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 Dogs digestion doesn't start in their mouth like it does ours. Their teeth are for making chunks of food small enough (which can be quite large) to swallow then the stomach takes care of it. However, that being said, he might have trouble digesting it because his stomach isn't ready to accept the food yet (the digestive juices haven't started flowing yet). I think the first step for me would be adding water to his food (almost to the point of it floating) to slow him down and the water should help with predigestion too. It doesn't need to sit and be soggy when you give it to him but adding the water should slow him down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiga's_mom Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 It certainly slows Tiga down. We've timed him eating without the water in the food and he ate it in less then 15 secs! He was also always hungry. The vet suggested we soak it first. We started soaking it until it was soft, but now we just pretty much give it to him with the water in it. It does indeed slow him down and he doesn't seem to be as hungry all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 Just wanted to mention that gulping food is one (of several) risk factors for bloat. While bloat is mainly a large dog problem, it can and does affect dogs of all sizes. Zoe, my 17.5" 28# BC mix bloated, but luckily I got her to the vet before it twisted. Zoe gulps food; so that combined with a exercising too close to eating + heightened excitement created a "perfect storm" so to speak and we were really lucky. If you have a gulper, at least read up on bloat (GDV) and know the symptoms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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